Manually-controlled steam-operated cylinder cock and drift valve



May 17, 1927. 1,629,037

A. T. KUEHNER MANUALLY CONTROLLED STEAM OPERATED CYLINDER COCK AND DRIFT'VALVE Filed Se pt.14. 1921 2 Shasta-Shoot 1 May 1927' A T KUEHNER HANUALLY CONTROLLED STEAM OPERATED CYLINDER COCK AND DRIFT VALVE Sept. 14-

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Patented May 17, 1927.

UNITED STATES,

PATENT; OFFICE;

ARTHUR T. KUEHNER, OF ELKRIDGE, MARYLAND."

MANUALLY-CONTROLLED STEAIv'I-OPEBATED CYLINDER COCK AND DRIFT VALVE.

I Application filed September 14-, 1921. Serial No. 500,488.j

This invention relates to an improved cylinder cock and drift valve for locomotives and seeks toflprovide a device of this character which will be steam closed under manual control of the engineer but which i will automatically open when the steam pressure acting to hold the device closed is manually cutoff.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device which will, regardless of the working conditions in the locomotive cylinders, be constantly. held closed until" the steam pressure closing the manually released. v The lnvention has as a further object to device is provide a device which will. regardlessof steam. pressure the presence'or absence of in the locomotive cylinders, automatically open when the pressure behind it is released.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device which may, regardless of the presence or absence of steam pressure in the locomotive cylinders, be vclosed by steam pressure under manual control. I

The invention has as a further highly important object to provide a device embody ing by-passages for admitting a leakage flow of steam to the cylinders so that when the locomotive is drifting, live steam will be fed to the cylinders for neutralizing and smoke box gases drawn'into scoring of" the cylinders as well as formation of. carbon therein being thus materially. reduced. I

. And the invention hasas a" still further object to provide a device whereinthe leak age flow of steam'therethrough will maintain the device warm so that water of'condensation inthe device will be prevented from freezing. i 1 v V I Other and incidental objects will appear hereinafter. i

' In the drawings: I

Figure 1' is aside elevation showing an quenching any the cylinders,

ordinary locomotlve cylinder equipped with Figure dis a vertical sectional viewon the line 4.-4' of Figure 3, looking in the direction of the arrows,

'ing through said 7 bell crank is arranged to extend through the easing into Figure 5 is asectional view onthe line 55 of Figure 3, looking in the direction of the arrows, i

Figure 6 is'a longitudinal sectional view similar to ,Figure 3, showing the cock closed, and 1 y 1 Figure? is a fragmentary sectional View showinga slightly modified form of cylinde'r. whereby a single cock and valve may be usedfor both ends of the cylinder.

In carrying the invention into efle'ct, I employ. a casing 10 which isprovided at its upper side with a cylinder port 11 and formed on the'casing adjacent said port are spaced cars :12. The casing is provided with a horizontal passage 13 therethrougln-this passage being intersected by theiport 11 and,

as will be observed .'said passage is provided with a reduced outer end portion 14 definng a beveled valve seat 15 at its inner end.

The valve seat 15 lies near the outer end of the casing at one side of the cylinder port '11 and leading from the reduced portion ll inner end to provide a conicalface 18 and terminating in ail-annular head or piston 19. Formed on'the valvehody atits outer end is a beveled face 20 adapted to rest flat against the seat 15 of the casing and formed in the periphery of the piston 19 is a plurality of by-passages 21 opening through the end-faces of the piston, it being ob served in this eonnectionthat the piston is formedwith flatend faces '22 and 23 respectively; Extending from the outer end of the valve bodyfis a stem 24 slidably fitting Lin the reduced portion 14' of the passage 13 and formed through the outer end portion of said stem is a diamet'ric slot 25 while adjacent the valve body the stem is formed -with a 'reduced'neck 26. Pivot'ed between the ears 12 of the casing is a bell crank 27 mounted to rock upon a bolt 28 extendears. The short arm of the the slot 25 of the stem 24 of the valve and is provided, with a (lisc'sh'aped 1 head 29 freely coaeting with the end walls of said slot while the long arm of'the' bell crank is arranged to project, outwardly between the ears 12 and is enlarged at its outer end to provide a weight 30.

In Figure 1 of the drawings, a. pair of the devices is shown in conjunction with an ordinary locomotive cylinder3l, a pair constitutin a. right and left hand cock so that the drain openin s 16 of both devices of the pair will be disposed at the outer sides thereof directed. away from. the loco motive. Threaded into the usual orifices in the ends; of .the cylinder are short lengths of pipe 32, and as will beat once understood, the casings lll of the-cocks are threaded upon the lower ends of these pipes, the pipes being engaged in the ports 1120f the casings. The cocks are thus mounted in horizontal .position beneath the cylinder and extendingbetween the inner ends of the casings 1O ofusa-id cocks isia pipe 33. This pipe is formed in sections' fitting at their outer ends'in the casings and connected therewith: by glands 34 while the inner or meeting ends ofsaid pipe sections are coupled by a right, and left union -Interposed in one of said sections is a T-joint 36 and connected to this joint is a live steam pipe 37 which leads to the cab of the locoin'otive. ,Interp'osed .in the pipe at some point convenient to the-engineer is an appropriate control valve'38. As will be observed, the valves of the cocks may be displaced from the casings 10 by simply detaching the sections of the pipe 33and removing the bell cranks 27.

To close. the cocks, the valve is opened when live steam will be admitted to the easings to act against the pistons 19 of the valves so that the valves will be shifted'endwise to. engage the beveled faces'thereof with the valve seats for cutting off flow through the cocks, the valves, of course, rocking the hell crank 27 and elevating the weighted endsthereof as said valves are shifted. If no steam; pressure is present in the cylinder, the valves will,'as will be perceived, close without hindrance.

' provision is made whereby the valvesamay be closedregardless of the st'eam pressure present inthe cylinder. As will be observed. the end faces 22 of the. pistons.19 of I the valves are of greater area than the end in the cylinder'against the faces 23 of said;.pistons-. Furthermore, the faces 18 and 23 .of each of the valves will. tend to balance thea'ction of steam pressure valves so that even though the pressure in the cylinder should be approximately equal to the live steam pressure acting againstthe faces 22 of the valves. the valves will, nevertheless, be shifted outwardly.against the action of the weighted bell crankstoclosed position and, as will be atonce clear, will be constantly held closed regardless. of the work ing conditions in the cylinder, until the steampressure acting t'oclose the valves is However,

out off by manual manipulation of the valve 38.

To open the cooks, the valve 38 is closed. Steam pressure against the faces 22 of the valves will thus be cut off when the weighted bell cranks will automatically shift the valves inwardly to open position. In this connection it is to be particularly observed that provision is made whereby the cocks will, when the valve 38 is closed automatically open regardless of the presence or al sence of steam pressure in the cylinder. Steam pressure in the cylinder acting on the face 23 of the piston 19 of each of the valves will be balanced by a like pressure of the steam on the face 18 of the valve-bony and the weighted bell cranks 27 are sufficiently heavy to overcome the resistance against the faces 22 of the pistons of steam in the inner ends of the passages *3 so that the cooks will be automatically opened coincident with the closing of the valve 38. Absence of steam pressure in the cylinder will, of course, facilitate opening of the cooks. In the open position of the cocks any water of condensation in the cylinder will, of course, be at once drained there from through the drain'openings 16 of the cocks.

Attention is now directed to the fact that when the valve 38 is open and the cocks are closed, live steam will leak through the by passages 21 of the pistons 19. Accordingly, when the locomotive is drifting, live steam will be fed to the cylinder through theoocks for neutralizing and dampening any smoke box gases drawn into the cylinder to thus not only prevent excessive heat in the cylinder with consequent faulty lubricatiombut also minimize scoring of the cylinder as well asthe formation of carbon therein. F urthermore, since while the cocks are closedplive steam will leak therethrough, the cooks will be maintained warm so that freezing of any water of condensation in the cooks will be prevented.

In Figure 7 of the drawings, 1 have illus- I I trated a slight modification in the structure of a locomotive cylinder whereby asingle cock of the present inventionmay be employed in conjunction with the cylinder instead of a pair of cocks as illustrated in Figure 1. A portion of a locomotive cylinder is indicated in Figure 7 at 39 and formed on the cylinder at its lower side is a longitudinally directed passage 42 entering the cylinder near the ends thereof. Connected with this passage is one of the cylinder cocks of the present invention, indicated as a whole at 43, a live steam pipe 44 leading to the cock. The pipe 44 corresponds, of course, to thepipe 37 as previously describedand, as will thus be seen, the single cock 43 will, in being connectedzwith both ends of the cylinder through the passage 42, serve all the functions of a pair of cocks connected to the ends of a cylinder as in Figure 1.

Having thus described the invention, is claimed as new is:

1. In combination with a steam cylinder, a cylinder cock including a relief valve controlling an outlet passage from the cylinder, a conduit for supplying live steam to the valve, the valve being provided with means having opposed faces of unequal area where by the valve may be closed. against the steam pressure in the cylinder and held closed by steam at the same pressure in said conduit acting on the larger of said faces, and weight operated means constantly urging'the valve to open position and automatically operable when the supply of steam to the valve is cut off for opening the valve against steam in said conduit at the same pressure as the steam in the cylinder.

2. In combination with a steam cylinder, a cylinder cock including a relief valve con trolling an outlet passage from the cylinder, a conduit for supplying live steam to the valve, the valve being provided with means having opposed faces of unequal area where by the valve may be closed against the steam pressure in the cylinder and held closed by steam at the same pressure in said conduit acting on the larger of said faces, weight operated means constantly urging the valve to open position and automatically operable when the supply of steam to the valve is cut off for opening the valve against steam in said conduit at the same pressure as the what steam in the cylinder, and means for bypassing to the cylinder a portion of the steam holding the valve closed and operable when the valve is open to release steam trapped in said conduit when said steam supply is cut off. I

A cylinder cock including a casing pr0- vided with a passage therethrough having a larger end portion forming an inlet and a smaller end portion provided with an outlet port, the casing being formed with a relief port opening into the larger end portion of said passage and being provided at the junction of said portions of said passage with a valve seat lying between said ports, a valve slidably fitting in the larger end portion of said passage to engage said seat closing the inlet and said relief port with respect to said outlet portand provided at one end with a stem slidably fitting in the smaller end portion of said passage, the stem beingprovided with a reduced neck at said outlet port, a piston carried by the opposite end of the valve and slidably fitting in the larger end portion of said passage, said piston being operable by steam pressure entering at said inlet for closing the valve, and a bell crank pivoted upon the casing and provided with a short arm extending into the casing to engage said stem and a long arm forming a weighted lever gravitating to normally shift the valve to open position.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature.

ARTHUR T. KUEHNER. n 8. 

